NRC: "I Drunk Urine, Ate Gravel"

A former employee of the Ghana Fire Service (GFS), Mr. Jacob K. Baiden has said he was forced by soldiers to drink urine and eat gravel for three days at the Gondar Barracks during the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) regime in 1985.

Testifying at the National Reconciliation Commission, he said a group of soldiers in masks picked him for no apparent reason on his way home from work and took him to Gondar barracks at Burma Camp. He said he was put in a guardroom which has no ventilation.

"I undressed and they flogged me with a twisted wire. I had cuts on my legs, hands and face. I was ordered to roll on the flour to and fro for some hours."

He said the next morning he went through another drilling at the hands of another soldier. "He asked me to grip my penis and ears. I hopped to and fro for hours. When I requested for water he asked me to urinate and drink it.

"I did so. Later I was given a blunt cutlass to weed from noon to 5pm. I was then taken into a room with blood stains on the wall with bullet holes. They shaved me with broken bottles."

He said his Welfare Officer, Mr. Bannahene intervened and he was released after the third day in the cell. He said he still feels pain when urinating and at times urinates blood.

The commission also heard the testimony of ex-Sergeant Joseph Nuer who said he was dismissed from the Police Service because one of the investigators probing the murder of the three judges and the retired army officer in 1983 was his friend.

He said this friend, Ohene Ansah who was working with the Narcotics Control Board, told him that he was being trailed because of the case he was handling. So Ansah gave him a file containing statements of witnesses and exhibits pertaining to the murder case for safekeeping.

Mr. Nuer said he went to Ansah's house after he heard on radio news that Ansah had been dismissed for misconduct. He said he was arrested by some soldiers at Ansah's house when they saw the file in the boot of his car.

He said he was taken to Gondar barracks and was tortured with a mallet on his shoulders. He said he was dismissed from the service after six years and eight months in detention.

A retired Foreign Service Officer, Mr. Gordon Setrena said he was unlawfully detained and tortured at the BNI and Gondar barracks because he was mistaken for his landlord in 1990.

"I undressed and they tied my hands at the back of a chair. I was asked the same questions at the BNI. While the questions were coming to me, two soldiers behind me were lashing me with iron rods."

He said he then lost control and urinated on himself. Later he was released.

An ex-Lance Corporal, Godwin Wegudi said he was detained for seven years without trial during the PNDC era in 1985. He said he was released on a Presidential Pardon in 1992 and was subsequently discharged from the army.

Madam Susana Korletey said she was flogged for no apparent reason by soldiers at the El-wak Sports Stadium until her flesh went numb in 1982.

She said her husband who was a police officer was arrested by soldiers and died a few weeks later when he was released. She said the entitlement due her husband was never given to them.

Hearing continues next Tuesday.